How FWA has used the proceeds from BMO Capital Market’s Day of Trading
 Other Programs and Accomplishments of the FWA of New York Educational

How FWA has used funding from BMO’s Equity Through Education

FWA – BMO Capital Markets Scholarship Fund at Baruch College
The support from Equity Through Education has been used to endow the FWA - BMO Capital Markets Scholarship Fund for undergraduate women with financial need and academic promise at Baruch College. This scholarship program was designed to enhance the FWA’s mentoring program, which it began in 2002, at Baruch’s highly regarded Zicklin School of Business. In 2006, the FWA first offered these full undergraduate scholarships at Baruch College, which is consistently ranked the nation’s most diverse college by U.S. World and News Report. Each year, approximately six young women will receive scholarships from this fund.

The FWA mentoring program at Baruch currently serves 35 young women and their mentors, volunteers from among the FWA’s membership of financial professionals. The focus is on personal and career development through one-on-one relationships, networking with other mentors and FWA members at FWA programs, and several topical luncheon workshops on campus led by FWA members. As of May 2009 when 13 mentees graduated, seven (7) had accepted full time positions with FWA corporate sponsors.

Adding this new financial component to other forms of support has been particularly critical for the diverse population of Baruch women, many of whom are recent immigrants or whose parents are first generation Americans. Baruch graduates the largest number of African American and the fifth largest number of Hispanic American students in New York City from its undergraduate programs.

FWA Scholarship Program Participants
Scholarship awards are made by Baruch College to students who are completing the business core curriculum with the intention of concentrating on financially-oriented disciplines. These students, through either coursework and/or participation in clubs or other activities, demonstrate an interest in advancing women's roles in the financial services industry. Below is a list of some of the past scholarship recipients and where they are today.

• Diane Peters – Risk Control Analyst, Global Mortgages / Global Structured Products, Bank of America
• Laura del Rio – Business Analyst, Advus
• Tracy Ying Li – First year analyst, JP Morgan Investment Bank
• Daliya Yassien -- Marketing Healthcare Consumer and Professional Channels, Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Care Division

BMO Capital Markets Undergraduate Scholarships for the FWA – Murry Bergtraum High School Mentees
The 2008 Equity Through Education program funded the annually renewable undergraduate scholarships to students who graduate from the FWA mentoring program at Murry Bergtraum High School (MBHS) in lower Manhattan. The BMO contribution not only sustained the scholarship program but it enabled the FWA to increase the 2009-10 awards for the upperclassmen from $1,000 to $2,000 each.

The FWA has partnered with Murry Bergtraum High School in lower Manhattan for almost 25 years, which is one of the longest partnerships in the New York City public school system. FWA members mentor approximately 30 high school students until graduation and the mentees benefit from the mentors’ knowledge and experience as well as the opportunity to explore the business community. The mentoring program helps with the college selection process and provides SAT prep courses in partnership with Princeton Review.

This year’s entering freshman BMO scholarship recipients are:

• Juceliz Batista – Syracuse University
• Bermania Binet – Smith College
• Erika Castellar – Wheaton College
• Samantha DeMicco – St. Francis College
• Victoria Fan – Syracuse University
• Miguelina Garcia – Johnson & Wales University
• Cindy Lin – Syracuse University
• Dana Alle Martin – Stony Brook University
• Cristabell Ramdial – St. Bonaventure

This year’s scholarship recipients who are continuing their college studies:

• Barbara Gelin – Baruch College
• Adalis Luciano – Brooklyn College
• Zhanna Digilova – New York University
• Christy McLean – Brooklyn College
• Krysta Omeir – Baruch College

Other Programs and Accomplishments of The FWA of New York Educational Fund

Graduate Scholarship Program:
The FWA of New York Educational Fund awarded five $5000 scholarships to graduate students studying business at New York City schools – NYU, Columbia, Baruch, Pace, and Fordham - and one $5000 scholarship to a student studying microfinance at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Over the course of 26 years, $575,000 has been awarded to 129 graduate students.

Wall Street Exchange:
For almost 30 summers, the FWA’s Wall Street Exchange program has offered supplemental professional development workshops for a group of 30-40 college interns on Wall Street.

Financial Backpack:
This past year over 400 high school students participated in the expanded Financial Backpack program. HSBC in the Community (USA) Inc. granted the FWA $900,000 over five years to teach personal financial management skills to over 3,000 high school students.

Financial Literacy Program:
Since early 2005, FWA members have provided twice-yearly financial literacy workshops to clients at University Settlement in lower Manhattan. The program is proud to have expanded its reach since last year by starting to work with women at Nontraditional Employment for Women.

Microfinance:
The FWA’s Lenore Albom Microfinance Initiative provides scholarships for women leaders of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) worldwide. These women are chosen to attend executive leadership training seminars designed by Wharton. So far, four women have successfully completed the programs with the support of FWA funds.